Hot and Bothered
by Negotiatrix
Summary: Shigure loved his old-fashioned house, but not on nights like this one.


HOT AND BOTHERED

Shigure lay in bed listening to the hypnotic hum of the night insects outside. The weather report said it was "unseasonably hot," but that didn't even begin to describe the sticky air that had descended on the city. He sighed loudly and tossed the bedcovers to the side.

Shigure loved his old-fashioned house, but not on nights like this one. He wished again that he had taken Hatori's suggestion of installing an air-conditioning system in spite of the cost. This very afternoon he had even stooped so low as to get dressed and go try to buy a window unit. Every store he tried was sold out however.

"Mr. Shigure?" Tohru's hesitant voice came from the hall. He perked up a little, surprised that Tohru was awake.

"I thought I heard, um, you moan, and I, umm...wondered if you're alright?" Tohru was peeking at him through the cracked door panel. At least he would have someone to talk to. Or tease.

Shigure sat up, letting his loosely tied yukata slip off one shoulder. "Now, Tohru, if I'm alone like this I can't possibly be moaning!" He put on his best come-hither look and let his voice sink lower, " I save moaning for _special _occasions."

Tohru's pretty blush was everything he had hoped for, but when she disappeared from the doorway the fun was already over.

Sighing once more, he turned and flopped back on the futon. He stared at the wall for a few moments and idly wondered why the girl had been downstairs to begin with. Crazy teenagers. He couldn't wait until they were graduated and out of his house. Then without the constant repair bills to pay, he could afford that air-conditioning system. Restless again, he reached to pull the covers back up and try to sleep.

Some time later, he was very nearly drowsy when a small sound startled him. He leaned up on his elbows and saw the dim hallway visible through his open door. Then he blinked rapidly, trying to focus on the figure standing just inside which he was sure was a heat-induced hallucination.

"Oh! Mr. Shigure, you aren't trying to sleep in this heat with all those covers, are you?" The Tohru apparition approached into the moonlight coming through the window. Now that was definitely strange behavior, even for an illusory Tohru.

As far as he knew, Tohru had never so much as entered his room before this. At the beginning of her stay in his house, he had specifically told her he didn't want her to clean in here because of his manuscripts. She had taken that to mean that she shouldn't enter at all. Until now.

Now she was kneeling at the foot of his futon, a ridiculous amount of leg showing from below her nightshirt. She plucked at the covers and blushed while babbling away about the heat and the need for proper air circulation and who knew what else. He certainly didn't. All he knew was that a pretty, not-so-young-anymore girl was in his bed. Well, maybe not _in_ so much as near, but he wasn't a man who required precision in his pleasures.

He sat up fully and pinned Tohru with his smokiest stare until she finally stammered to a halt. Then he smiled benignly and cheerfully asked, "So, what has brought you downstairs in the middle of the night to give me a health lesson, and . . ." He stopped in awe when he got a good look at just what she was wearing.

He had already noticed, of course, that it was quite short, but now he beheld its full glory. Low-cut, soft pink, sleeveless, and a bit too big. It would look quite nice if she would just lean toward him a little more. In fact, if one could manage to ignore the purple bunnies printed on it, one might even think the nightshirt was very sexy.

Well, he had resisted the wiles of nubile young women before. He was sure that if he tried he could do it again. If he wanted to that is. At this particular moment he could think of only one thing though.

"Bunnies," he said, pointing at her chest. Tohru looked down in confusion, then laughed self-consciously.

"Oh! The bunnies! I, uh, well it's not actually a nightgown you know! It's a shirt, and well, it's so hot you know, that I thought it would be cooler to sleep in this and it's kinda too big, but I saw it in the store, and the bunnies were so cute and they reminded me of Momiji so I just had to buy it!"

Her voice got higher the more she talked, and she wrung her hands in agitation while bouncing up and down nervously. Her movements were making interesting things happen inside her shirt while the bunnies appeared to do a wild and vaguely erotic dance.

The sight of Tohru wearing such a delectable thing and thinking of Momiji of all people was simply intolerable. As she launched into an account of her friends' opinions of her purchase, Shigure decided that there was a very simple solution.

"Tohru!" he said, and grabbed her by the shoulders. She stopped with a little squeak of surprise. "Take that thing off right now!" he commanded, and nearly growled in an effort to _not_ assist her to do so. Tohru seemed about to actually scream however, so he clapped his hand over her mouth.

"Upstairs I mean! Go upstairs, take it off and _burn it_! Then take the ashes outside and _bury_ them!" Tohru nodded and he tried very hard not to notice how her soft lips moved against his palm over her mouth.

He took his hand away and she leaped up and ran. With great cunning and effort, Shigure was able to lean over quickly enough to see that her panties were the same shade of purple as the bunnies.


End file.
